When Tooling Express, Inc. (TEI) — a Bellevue,
ID-based mold shop that specializes in sporting good molds —
branched into the molding part of the business to further define
its niche and improve its moldmaking pro-cess, it soon faced the
challenge of finding a quality tool steel to work with that also
would shorten deliveries by reducing machining times and post
processes such as heat treating.

Located right outside of the ski resort area of Sun Valley, ID,
this father/son moldmaking/ molding shop employs four full-time
toolmakers/ mold designers. The shop is literally 15 minutes from
the ski slopes, and summertime fly-fishing is a 10-minute walk
from the shop’s back door. It seems only natural that the company
soon found its niche catering to the wide world of sports. With a
10,000-square-foot facility containing six injection molding
machines ranging from 55 to 165 tons, TEI also has second
operation facilities such as pad printing, ultrasonic welding, and
minor assembly and packaging of its customer's products.

The Overmolding Challenge
According to Vice President Evan Down ard,one of the company’s
earliest challenges involved building a mold for over molded ski
pole grips. “It had only been done once before and our new
customer wanted to get very aggressive with the shut-off shapes
that would show the secondary color on the grip,” Downard
explains. “We quickly realized that the only way to ensure success
with the project was to also control the final injection molding
process. So, eight months into our endeavor as a moldmaking shop,
we also found ourselves as injection molders. Our huge success
with this particular over mold job quickly lead to other jobs and
helped us realize that this is our niche in the industry.”

The
object of overmolding — or insert molding — is to place either a
metal or plastic item into a mold and close on it. “This is
something that most injection molders try to avoid,” Downard
explains. “But here we are in our own private Idaho, doing it all
day long on purpose.

“Abig problem with insert molding is the fact that you are
actually closing the mold on pre-molded parts or some other insert
material,” Downard continues. “In the past, we have relied heavily
on heat treated tool steels to take on the task of pinching off on
insert material and still leave shut-off surfaces intact. Taking
the problem one step further, there is often a need to do
additional machining on mold surfaces to fine-tune the pinch off
areas.”

Standard Mold Bases/Inserts Speed Delivery
Downard found the solution he was seeking at International Mold
Steel, a Florence, KY-based supplier of pre hardened mold steels
and a new line of MUD-style mold inserts. The company’s
off-the-shelf NAK 55 MUD style bases were the best fit for TEI’s
needs. “Since a large portion of our molds are built in this style
base, and the fact that we can more efficiently cut NAK 55 over
the other available pre-hardened mold bases, this is what we were
looking for,” Downard comments. “The price may be a bit higher,
but we quickly make up for that additional cost by having the
ability to finish molds earlier due to faster machining and less
time spent on any unnecessary heat treating. In addition, we don’t
need to post-grind the inserts.”

Plus, the quick-change inserts load in and out of a master
frame that can be reused over and over again, eliminating the need
for each mold to have its own “A” support plate and “B” side
ejection box or U-frame. “This obviously offers some cost savings
due to fewer materials being needed, but more importantly, it
allows the moldmaker to focus on the more highly detailed core and
cavity work,” Downard explains.

The greatest challenge of this type of work, he continues, is
that most often there is no real life part geometry to work from.
A customer’s only concern is that it works and achieves the
desired look when assembled. When components for the final
assembly are being made all around the world with no real hard
numbers to call law, quite often final “tweaking” is necessary.
For this reason, weldability of the mold insert material is
crucial, and Downard points out that it can be welded without any
evidence of the weld on the part.

“In our latest endeavor of overmolding plastic attachment
points to the ends of goggle straps, the NAK 55 mold bases have
really shined,” Downard adds. “Due to the perfect timing on
delivery of the mold bases and the ability to machine faster with
minimal polishing, we were able to get our customer’s new concept
products online in time for them to take actual production parts
with them to a recent trade show.”

For more information contact Paul Britton of International Mold
Steel (Florence, KY) at (859) 342-6000 or visit its website at
www.imsteel.com.